Snowleopard's 2019 Road Trip: Netherlands, Belgium, France & Germany

A question please, which has long puzzled me since coming across the plethora of pictures of such in this sites media gallery...

In the US, does the visiting, paying public generally endorse such establishments with enough visitation to make then economically viable, or are they owned and run by people with other funding sources which are used to finance them?

 

@TeaLovingDave Oh, it makes perfect sense if brought into correlation, like:
"Sowohl der Frankfurter als auch der Kölner Zoo halten Okapis." = The zoos of Frankfurt and of Cologne both keep okapis.
So you can write "der Kölner Zoo", just like "der Kölner Dom" (= Cologne Cathedral) in German; "Kolner", however, does not make any sense at all.
And to confuse you even more: Kölle Zoo is a German pet shop company. ^^

 

There does seem to be a tendency for German speakers to write 'the Kölner Zoo' in English where one would never see 'the Frankfurter Zoo'.

 

Because it rolls off easier from the tongue ^^ - and is also the official name used by the zoo itself.
Kölner Zoo | Home

 

This has been covered in detail in other threads, where my comments provoked a torrent of opinion as to why our Government inspectors must be wrong. The fact remains, that (in our case at least) even if as a zoo we decided this was acceptable, which we do not; the practice is banned by our Zoo Inspectors who impose the European Unions BALAI Directive. Without BALAI Approval, a zoo is unable to import and export animals.

 

You bring up an intriguing point and now that I've visited a tremendous number of zoos (I'm going to visit 4 ultra-tiny places in the state of Washington today to bring my all-time total to 520 zoos) and it never ceases to amaze me at just how many zoos there are in the world. The state of Wisconsin, which is geographically large but only contains maybe 6 million people in total, has at least 34 zoos across a vast landscape. I occasionally bring up Wisconsin on ZooChat because I've been all across most of Canada and visited all 50 U.S. states and nowhere has such a wide variety of totally crap zoos than Wisconsin. How do 34 zoos stay operational in a place that sees heavy snowfall in the winter and is not exactly a tourist hot-spot? I can see why Florida has approximately 100 zoos, California has around 70 and Texas is sitting at just over 50, but Wisconsin is next in line and a bit of a head-scratching anomaly. No one flies over from overseas especially to visit mighty Wisconsin, but for whatever reason a large number of privately-run zoos have proliferated in that state.

I honestly think that other than a zoo with over 1.3 million annual visitors (Milwaukee County), a popular and very good free zoo (Henry Vilas), a nice specialized facility (International Crane Foundation) and maybe a couple of other places (NEW Zoo and Racine Zoo), most of the zoological 'delights' of Wisconsin are utter dreck. There are at least 15 zoos that I've personally visited in Wisconsin that are all worse than just about any of the 95 zoos that I toured in Europe this summer. For only a single American state to have such a plethora of zoological junk is not even earth-shattering, as I can name any state (including the 'big three' of Florida, California and Texas) and each has its share of awful zoos that would probably not remain open to the public in nations like the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany. I think that if one made a list of the Top 10 zoos in Europe and compared those facilities to the Top 10 zoos in North America, then there might be a lot in common with a range of excellence. However, there are so many more junky zoos in North America (mainly all in the U.S. as Canada has phased out most roadside zoos) that Europe 'wins' in terms of overall quality.

To get back to the main question, my suspicion is that many tiny American zoos eke out a living with pitifully small visitor numbers and barely struggle to survive. I have met so many truly weird American zoo owners over the years, and these are people that have put their heart and soul into their establishments, but I usually walk away thinking that I would be a far better zoo owner even though I'm a high-school teacher and have zero zoological background whatsoever. I will now copy and paste three paragraphs from a review that I did a year ago, from Animal Haven Zoo (Weyauwega, WI) and in the review I talk about the owners and also the tiny attendance figures at the zoo. It might be of some interest to readers and here is my review from 2018:

"That brings me to the 6th zoo of the day and 41st of this exhausting trip. Animal Haven Zoo (Weyauwega, WI) is another of the many Wisconsin zoos that aren't the greatest and this slapdash menagerie has been around for decades. Once more the zoo's owners were more interesting than the inhabitants of the exhibits, but first of all the zoo itself has some decent paddocks (loads of goats, camels, emus, ostriches, yet more goats, Aoudads, Plains Bison, Mouflon, etc.) but the carnivores don't do nearly as well. The zoo has 11 tigers (including a Liger) and a 12th on the way in August. There are a couple of African Lions and the zoo is building a 40 x 40 foot new lion exhibit in a few weeks as right now the two animals are in holding 'pens'. I saw them and the lions are in cages that are only twice as long as they are and so hopefully that new exhibit goes up fast! There is a black Leopard, at least 9 bears (Grizzly and American Black) and other species such as Cougar, Bobcat, Serval, White-nosed Coati and a handful of other exotics.

Now let's discuss the owners. They are exceptionally nice, hard-working people and it is a husband and wife team who run the zoo. Yet again, and this shouldn't surprise anyone, they've essentially been to zero other zoos besides their own. Special Memories Zoo is 30 minutes away and the owners of Animal Haven Zoo have NEVER visited and they hadn't even heard of most of the zoos that I'd just gone through this week. How is that possible? I told them that I'd been to more than 400 zoos (something I've only told a few people on this trip) and the owners treated me like a rock star. They started telling other visitors that I'd come all the way to Canada to see their tiny zoo, they asked me a lot of questions about other zoos and after I spent 1.5 hours walking around we sat down and had a good chat. They were so nice that it almost pains me to say that much of their beloved zoo is garbage. There is a Bobcat living in a 6-foot metal cage, a Coati in another metal cage not much larger, 11 tigers in very small enclosures and African Lions temporarily living in shoe-boxes. The owners are delusional and think that their little zoo is wonderful and I didn't have the heart to tell them otherwise. They asked what exhibits they could improve and when I mentioned a couple of them (like the black Leopard cage) they became ultra-defensive and took me outside to show me another side exhibit that was connected to the main one. Never mind that the leopard was sitting in a small cement bunker...they live in a fantasy world.

Anyway, I behaved myself and we had a lovely chat. The man is 72 years old, his wife is 70 and they want to run the zoo for another 8 years. At that point they plan on selling everything (the house next door, the main building, the entire zoo) for approximately 2 million dollars and if no one buys the zoo then they've already checked out prices on bulldozers. I'm not even joking as they plan to demolish it all if they can't find a seller as their grandchildren “ain't worth more than some hairy monkey nuts and they ain't getting the joint for free”. Anyone interested on ZooChat? The annual visitor count is only 20,000-25,000 and I don't even know how they manage to eke out a living but the couple work 7 days a week from May to October every year. They have one employee on per day and then it is these two senior citizens running the gift shop, cafe, maintenance and doing everything around the zoo. I honestly don't even know how they manage it all and they never get a day off until the winter-time when they are snowed in on some days. They've got at least 16 big cats, 9 bears and another hundred other animals and these two seniors are doing everything with little to no help. They even told me that they don't bother with giving any of their animals annual checkups and most of the veterinary work that needs to be done they do themselves. Holy crap!"

It's an eye-opening review, right? It's totally shocking how some small, crappy American zoos are run by folks who are old and probably struggling with the work-load.

 

That is quite remarkable... and thank you very much for repeating it for our benefit. I personally have visited over 50 zoos (mainly in the UK) which are now closed, including many opened during the 'zoo-boom' of the 1960s, before any National legislation was in place here. Even then, none would compare with this, even though I can think of a couple which perhaps came close.

We ourselves have just been through the newly revised and greatly tightened National inspection process here, and were indeed the first UK zoo to do so. The scenario you describe above could not exist here. The 'land-of-the-free' certainly produces a mind-boggling variation in standards; one almost impossible for a European zoo person to comprehend.

I guess their 20 or 30 thousand visitors must be so very local, they never visit anywhere else? - but it is still difficult to see this happening in the modern World of instant communication and comparison. The zoos I visited in the 1960s and 70s were not so easily compared by their public.

Any zoo (or indeed any other 'institution') reflects the standards and expectation of not only its time, its era and its politics, but also its visitors and its catchment.

Is there no National or State control or regulation in the US?

 

Nevertheless, there are still European zoos that allow dogs in, including major institutions such as Tierpark Berlin or Prague Zoo.

 

Wisconsin actually is a regional tourism hotspot apparently. The Dells are supposed to be like the regional Las Vegas/Disney World of the upper-midwest. That's why you find so many zoological attractions of bad quality.

 

As far as I know, and anyone knowing more can feel free to correct me, there are certain differences in regard to the regulation of the husbandry of exotic animals between the different US states; so maybe Wisconsin is one of the laxer states?

 

First, @Batto: thanks for the detailed explanation. I haven't got much else to say other than that I have much more positive feelings about dogs in zoos than when I initially heard of it! I'm glad that your dog is calm and collected enough not to be a handful; my current dog is quite old and well-trained, yet I still couldn't imagine the nightmare that would be taking her to a zoo. And as I'm indeed an introvert and a "want the time to see everything"-type person, I think you hit the personal preference bit on the head

I especially thought your point about it being better to bring dogs along on ventures as "part of the pack" rather than leaving them at home. While I certainly get that argument, my family and nearly all other dog owners here in the States that I've met routinely leave their dogs when they go to work, school, errands, day trips, etc... though of course not overnight. We used to have two dogs so they weren't actually alone when left behind, but one passed away with no plans of being replaced so now being left alone is the reality. Maybe part of this is cultural; part of it maybe also be accessibility, as in general it is difficult or not allowed to take your dog into many public spaces unless they are a service animal. For instance, I've almost never seen a dog allowed in a restaurant or a bank, very rarely in a school or grocery store, and seldom in amusement parks, aquariums, museums, or yes: zoos.

This is correct. There is some federal legislation that affects animal welfare and is enforced by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) but most legislation regarding captive animals is at the state level, where attitudes vary widely. My guess would also be that Wisconsin's are very lax, and the same could be said for other states with many "junk" zoos like @snowleopard mentioned: Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc. Two of my former home states, California and Illinois, actually have quite good animal welfare laws and subsequently there are both fewer roadside zoos and the ones that do exist are often not as bad; in fact, I'm actually struggling to think of an Illinois zoo that could be called "junk". The ease of licensing an animal establishment (or indeed the necessity of licensing at all) or of obtaining exotic animals also depends on U.S. states, although again federal legislation and agencies like USDA and maybe FWS (Fish and Wildlife Service) can get involved. Zoos can be shut down by the USDA or state officials for violating welfare laws, but the likelihood depends on where it is, how egregious the violations are, and how much public outcry there is.

As for how these zoos stay open with so few visitors? One has to assume their operating costs are not that high considering their quality Meat that is not considered quite good enough for human consumption can be bought in bulk very cheaply in most places, as can barrels of hay, etc. And if the owners are doing veterinary work themselves (not recommended!), then they won't have to pay for those services either. Few or no other employees means that the owners only have to support themselves mostly, and yes many have other income or revenue sources or perhaps ample savings. As for animal acquisitions, I'm not sure what the cost involved is for that or even where the animals come from; anybody know the market price for a tiger?

 

It's indeed a cultural thing; I also witnessed myself that Americans or Australians are less likely to take their dogs to public places as some of the Europeans. Crate training has also not asserted itself in Europe as it has in the US.
Taking your dog to a restaurant is pretty common in Germany, except for some fancy dining or ethic food places - to the point that back in the days my mother angrily boycotted a local restaurant for not allowing her to take our family dog along.

Depending on the morph, age and country, less than a thousand to several thousand USD.

 

Indeed, and zoos in the UK too! European legislation is (often) vaguely worded and leads to a wide variation in standards of application, even within countries. If we did what Berlin and Prague, or Cotswold, do - we would lose our BALAI approval immediately. Our local Government office also requires double the written notice before any local (internal) animal move is done, compared to others in the UK, too...

 

Sorry, cant help you on the market price of a tiger - but it is possible yes that over-heads can be low. Animal slaughter regulations in the UK mean that even meat of the quality you describe, cannot be bought cheaply - hay neither, as the prices are pretty fixed by the growing season and weather at the time of harvest. I guess in the rural US, and with few (or no) regulations to comply with, it could be quite different.

 

Andrew is correct; "thanks" to the recent hot dry summers, the local price for hay is up, and there's very little left in the modern slaughter industry that cannot be commercially exploited.

 

I've jut reread this thread from the start, and it is thoroughly entertaining. Unfortunately I never said thank you for taking us with you, my bad. The reviews are great, the discussion often intriguing and well structured, and finally the wry observations and personal touches add a bit of extra personality. A great read, and a thread I imagine I'll continue to come back to in future.

 

As a Wisconsin resident, I can say that the Wisconsin Dells area is very popular. The Dells first started as a tourism destination because of, well, "The Dells", a local rock formation. That's right, believe it or not, the Midwestern Las Vegas started out as a ecotourism destination. Large hotels were built to accommodate all the visitors. Soon however, they became resorts. With large water parks. Now, Wisconsin Dells is the Waterpark Capital of the World. It's got Mount Olympus, Noah's Ark, Great Wolf, Kalahari, and a whole bunch of other smaller ones.

Now, the whole area is famous for the water parks. Many people, even here is Wisconsin, have never heard of the rock formation. Most people don't care about the local Baraboo Hills, filled with endemic plants. It's all about riding Raja, the World's Largest King Cobra, which isn't actually a cobra at all, but a water slide. It should be called the World's Largest King Cobra Shaped Object. Also, half the television stations run this constantly:



And only true Wisconsin residents will find the pun in this post.

 

Here is some in-depth road trip analysis on a Canadian Thanksgiving weekend:

The zoos are listed in the order that I visited them on my 95-zoo, 33-day European journey.

19 zoos with Asian Elephants: Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL), Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Zoo Maubeuge (Maubeuge, FR), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Planckendael Zoo (Mechelen, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Nuenen, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hamburg, DE), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Berlin Tierpark (Berlin, DE), Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE), Tierpark Strohen (Wagenfeld, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE), Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE), Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL) and Dierenpark Amersfoort (Amersfoort, NL).

3 best Asian Elephant exhibits: Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE) is easily #1, Planckendael Zoo (Mechelen, BE) is second and Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL) third. There are, unfortunately, a number of fairly small, disappointing Asian Elephant exhibits that I saw on my trip.
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10 zoos with African Elephants: Pakawi Park (Olmen, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Aywaille, BE), Opel Zoo (Kronberg, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL), Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL), Berlin Tierpark (Berlin, DE) and Serengeti-Park (Hodenhagen, DE).

3 best African Elephant exhibits: Opel Zoo (Kronberg, DE) is #1, Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL) is #2 with a troop of Hamadryas Baboons in with the elephant herd, and Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE) third.
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13 zoos with White Rhinos: Zoo Lille (Lille, FR), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Aywaille, BE), GaiaZOO (Kerkrade, NL), Dortmund Zoo (Dortmund, DE), ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Gelsenkirchen, DE), Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Serengeti-Park (Hodenhagen, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE), Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE) and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL).

3 best White Rhino exhibits: Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL) and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL). The worst is probably Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE).

6 zoos with Black Rhinos: Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE) and Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE).

5 zoos with Greater One-horned Rhinos: Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Planckendael Zoo (Mechelen, BE), Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Nuenen, NL), Berlin Tierpark (Berlin, DE) and Dierenpark Amersfoort (Amersfoort, NL).
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11 zoos with Common Hippos: Zoo Maubeuge (Maubeuge, FR), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Aywaille, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Gelsenkirchen, DE), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE) and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL).

3 best Common Hippo exhibits: Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL) and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE). Honourable mention goes to Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL) although it lacks underwater viewing.

7 zoos with Pygmy Hippos: Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), GaiaZOO (Kerkrade, NL), Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), ZooParc Overloon (Overloon, NL) and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE).

My favourite Pygmy Hippo exhibit is found at Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE).
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7 zoos with Okapis: Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL) and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE).

I think that all 7 Okapi exhibits are decent, with perhaps my favourite being Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL).

11 zoos with Polar Bears: Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Aywaille, BE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Nuenen, NL), Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL), Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hamburg, DE), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Berlin Tierpark (Berlin, DE), Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE) – hybrid bear with Silver Fox and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL).

3 best Polar Bear exhibits: Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE) is by far and away the best, followed by Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL) and Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL).

3 zoos with Giant Pandas: Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL) and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE).

3 zoos with Bottlenose Dolphins: Boudewijn Seapark (Bruges, BE), Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE) and Dolfinarium Harderwijk (Harderwijk, NL).
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18 zoos with Chimpanzees: Stichting AAP (Almere, NL), Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Pakawi Park (Olmen, BE), Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Aywaille, BE), Zoo Neuwied (Neuwied, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Gelsenkirchen, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Nuenen, NL), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE), Serengeti-Park (Hodenhagen, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE), Nordhorn Zoo (Nordhorn, DE) and Dierenpark Amersfoort (Amersfoort, NL).

3 best Chimpanzee exhibits: Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE) and Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL). There are at least 10 Chimpanzee exhibits that I would rate as ranging from mediocre to awful, with the European zoos that I visited doing poorly when it comes to our closest relatives.

17 zoos with Lowland Gorillas: Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL) with Meerkat and Diana Monkey, Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE) with Colobus, GaiaZOO (Kerkrade, NL) with Black-crested Mangabey, Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE) with King Colobus, Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), Safaripark Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL) with Colobus as well as Black-crested Mangabey, Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL) with Colobus, Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Hannover, DE) and Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE) with Red-capped Mangabey.

3 best Lowland Gorilla exhibits: Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL) and Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE).

15 zoos with Orangutans: Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE) with Small-clawed Otters, Safari Parc Monde Sauvage (Aywaille, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE) with Binturongs, Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Dortmund Zoo (Dortmund, DE) with Malayan Tapirs, ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Gelsenkirchen, DE) with Small-clawed Otters and Hanuman Langurs, Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL), Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL), Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hamburg, DE) with Small-clawed Otters, Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE) with Northern White-cheeked Gibbons and Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE).

3 best Orangutan exhibits: Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE) and Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE).

6 zoos with Bonobos: Planckendael Zoo (Mechelen, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL) and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE).

3 best Bonobo exhibits: Planckendael Zoo (Mechelen, BE) is apparently the world’s largest Bonobo exhibit and there are a series of indoor rooms as well, Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL) is second and Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE) third.
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15 zoos with Aquariums (only including those buildings of a substantial size): Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL), Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Tierpark + Fossilium Bochum (Bochum, DE), Duisburg Zoo (Duisburg, DE), Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hamburg, DE), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE) and Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE).

3 best Aquariums: Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL) and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE).
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11 zoos with Tropical Houses (only including those buildings of a substantial size): Pakawi Park (Olmen, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Mondo Verde (Landgraaf, NL), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Dortmund Zoo (Dortmund, DE), ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Gelsenkirchen, DE), Krefeld Zoo (Krefeld, DE), Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL), Weltvogelpark Walsrode (Walsrode, DE), Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE) and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL).

3 best Tropical Houses: Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL) and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL) are the two stand-out Tropical Houses that I saw on the trip and they are just about the two largest in all of Europe. (Zurich and Leipzig would perhaps round out a ‘Top 4’ list). It’s difficult to make a third selection, but I’ll go with Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE) for the inclusion of Sulawesi Bear Cuscus, Bulwer’s Pheasant, St. Lucia Amazon Parrot, St. Vincent Parrot and Andean Cock-of-the-Rock in its decent Tropical House.
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12 zoos with Reptile Houses (only including those buildings of a substantial size): Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL), Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE), Zoo Neuwied (Neuwied, DE), Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE), Wuppertal Zoo (Wuppertal, DE), Tierpark + Fossilium Bochum (Bochum, DE), Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hamburg, DE), Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE), Osnabruck Zoo (Osnabruck, DE) and Allwetterzoo Munster (Munster, DE).

5 best Reptile Houses: I want to highlight 5 exceptional Reptile Houses in this category. My #1 choice would be Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE) with its 91 reptile/amphibian species and 64 exhibits on the upper levels of the greatest zoo building in the world, followed by Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE) with its 58 species and 60 exhibits, then Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE) with its 77 species, 43 exhibits and small walk-through ‘jungle’ area. You can’t go wrong with Berlin, Cologne and Antwerp in this category. However, the top floor of the Exotarium at Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE) is excellent and there are 69 reptile/amphibian species there. Finally, Zoo Neuwied (Neuwied, DE) also has an ‘Exotarium’ and it is excellent, with 55 species and 38 exhibits.
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3 zoos with Nocturnal Houses (only including those buildings of a substantial size): Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE), Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE) and Dierenpark Amersfoort (Amersfoort, NL).

I did not include Zoo Neuwied (Neuwied, DE) as there are only 3 exhibits in a room, or several other zoos with a couple of nocturnal exhibits. There were only 3 ‘proper’ Nocturnal Houses on the trip and now Antwerp has already closed theirs down! Those buildings are endangered species in modern zoos.

3 zoos with Insectariums: Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL) has 33 species, Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE) has 42 exhibits and Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE) has 51 species. There are also a number of zoos with small invertebrate collections, including Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE) with its large wall of terrariums.

Here are the top 10 zoos on the trip:

1- Berlin Zoo (Berlin, DE)

2- Pairi Daiza (Brugelette, BE)

3- Cologne Zoo (Cologne, DE)

4- Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL)

5- Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL)

6- Berlin Tierpark (Berlin, DE)

7- Frankfurt Zoo (Frankfurt, DE)

8- Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL)

9- Planckendael Zoo (Mechelen, BE)

10- Zoo Antwerp (Antwerp, BE)

That makes it 4 from Germany, 3 from Belgium and 3 from the Netherlands.

Honourable mention: Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL) – I loved my visit, but this is a difficult zoo to compare to my Top 10. Apenheul is not even open year-round, has basically nothing but primates, but is still a ‘must-see’ zoological experience and I had a fantastic time there.

 

Personal rankings are always interesting and I tend to agree with most of your choices. A small remark: you forgot the tropical house at Planckendael's Asian section. And in some way also Antwerp got one with the Wintergarden/butterfly garden.